'That's the best anyone has ever played against me, even in practice'

Hong Kong giant-killer Marco Fu Kar-chun will jump to 96 in the provisional world rankings despite a crushing 9-2 defeat by England's Stephen Lee in the British Grand Prix final in Preston.

Fu's title dreams were shattered by an in-form Lee, who played the best snooker of his life to lift his first professional crown.

Fu, who ousted Ronnie O'Sullivan in the last 16 and Peter Ebdon in the quarter-finals on his way to his first final in his rookie year, was powerless to prevent world number nine Lee scoring the largest margin of victory in this tournament since Steve Davis white-washed Dean Reynolds 10-0 in 1989.

Fu will climb nine places in the world rankings, up from 105th before last week and 377th earlier this year.

The 20-year-old reigning world amateur champion from Happy Valley was disappointed that he was unable to mount a more serious challenge in the final held at the Preston Guild Hall.

He also admitted his new-found celebrity had been increasingly hard to handle.

'All the press and media demands started to get to me a bit, but I still really enjoyed the final no matter what the score,' said Fu.